Whenever you need me
by Lina and Mio
Summary: Such an ordeal has left Harry feeling broken, after his fifth year. Hermione seeks to comfort him in an interesting week at the Granger household. Hope you enjoy my first solo work. -Lina
1. Default Chapter

"Hermione Granger! You're soaked! Get into the house this instant!" Mrs. Granger called from the door.  
  
It was true. A severely wet girl came in from the rain. She shook her mass of brown hair into a towel and headed upstairs.  
  
"Can we talk?" her mother cried after her.  
  
"Maybe later." she said.  
  
She knew that her mom was concerned about her. The usually up beat Hermione hadn't been the same since she returned from her fifth year at Hogwarts. She entered her room and was delighted to see Hedwig sitting on her pillow. She smiled to the owl and removed its letter, which read...  
  
Dear Mio,  
  
How has your summer been going? I'm all right, I'd be better if Snape hadn't given us that huge essay. I must have been mad to take advanced potions. All to be an Auror though eh? I think Snape wants us all to have as miserable a summer as he must be having. You must be right, about him getting connected to Voldemort again. I've never seen him paler. The complexion of his face is truly an accomplishment.  
  
I'm not sure which is more ridiculous anymore, the daily prophet, or the quibbler. Did you see the article the other day about Voldemort hiding in the three broomsticks? I wonder what Malfoy is doing with his dad in Azkaban? Do you know what Dumbledore got to guard it now? With the dementors gone? I really do wish I were back at the order's place. Well, I'm not sure actually. I don't really want to go back there. Screaming portraits and all.  
  
Maybe Ron will have us at the burrow soon. I can't stand it here at the Dursleys. Write back soon,  
  
Harry  
  
Hermione couldn't help but laugh. Yeah, it's the portraits that would bother him about Sirrius's old house. But the humor didn't last long. Soon she threw herself down on the bed and started crying. Poor Harry. He just lost one of the most important people in his life, and he has to spend this time with his aunt and uncle. But then she sat up. Why hadn't she thought of it before?  
  
"Mom!" She cried, jumping into the kitchen.  
  
"What?" Mrs. Granger asked with a jolt.  
  
"Can I have a friend come over? For a while?" She asked.  
  
"Tonight? Mio, its almost ten."  
  
"No. For a week, or something. It's Harry and, he's having a hard time and his Aunt & Uncle aren't very sympathetic so maybe he could stay with us?"  
  
"You'll have to ask your father when he gets in, but it's fine with me."  
  
Hermione ran to her mother and gave her a big hug, which wasn't as much of a gift to her mother than seeing Hermione truly happy since she got back from school.  
  
She practically pounced on her father as soon as he came through the door, and when she got the clear she jetted to her bedroom and was relived to find that Hedwig had fallen asleep on her pillow.  
  
Dear Harry,  
  
My summer has been all right. I didn't think that essay was too bad. I finished it the first weekend of Holiday. Both newspapers are a bunch of parp, your right. No clue what Dumbledore is up to. But listen, why don't you come stay with me for a week? We could always go to Ron's later. It'll be fun. Ask your Uncle, and respond soon! You can come up tomorrow, around noon. Send Hedwig back if you can't. Bye  
  
Mio  
  
She couldn't wait for the owl to wake up. The big amber eyes glared at her for a bit but agreed to take it immediately.  
  
"Hermione Granger, are you singing?" her mother asked incredulously as her daughter came down to breakfast.  
  
"Yes mother, I dare say I am." she said, sitting down.  
  
Hermione spent the rest of the morning making sure the house was spotless. She didn't know why, but taking Harry out of his current situation made her absolutely giddy.  
  
At quarter to 12, Hermione settled herself on the porch. Five after noon a shiny car pulled into the drive. A tall, black-haired boy got out from the passenger seat, smiled and waved, before pulling his trunk from the back seat and dragging it to the door. As soon as the back door had shut, Harry's Uncle had peeled out of the driveway and sped off.  
  
Hermione couldn't sustain herself. She jumped from the porch as Harry was halfway up the walkway and hugged him very tightly, but his trunk fell painfully on her toe.  
  
"I am SO sorry Mio!" Harry moaned as he helped her inside.  
  
"No, I'm okay. Own fault, should have waited till you set it down." she said wincing.  
  
"Hermione! What happened?" asked her father, staring beadily at Harry.  
  
"I hugged him, and his trunk fell on my toe. Not a problem. I'll be fine." She said as Harry laid her down on the couch. He then approached Mr. Granger with his hand outstretched.  
  
He took it, but kept staring intently at Harry, obviously wondering why the hug was necessary.  
  
"Dad, this is Harry, Harry, my dad."  
  
"Nice to see you again Harry, though we've never had a chance to really talk. So, um, how do you know my daughter?" he asked, quite formally.  
  
"Er," said Harry uncomfortably. "From school."  
  
"Oh," Hermione said, looking angrily at her father. "That's not what he means. Harry is a FRIEND of mine, dad."  
  
"Oh yeah." Said Harry, suddenly. "Just good friends."  
  
"I wasn't insinuating anything dear." Said Mr. Granger, but looked a good deal happier.  
  
"Do you need ice, or anything Mio?" Harry asked.  
  
"Oh no. I'll be fine. I'd show you to the guest room but, I'm not sure about the stairs yet."  
  
"I'll show him." announced Mr. Granger.  
  
Hermione looked absolutely terrified at this idea, but Harry grabbed his trunk and followed him out of the room.  
  
"This is the guest room. Mine, and Mrs. Granger's room is right across the way, We sleep with the door open, and I am a very light sleeper. (what movie is that from) The bathroom is to the right, Hermione's room is to the left, I don't expect there to be any confusion."  
  
Harry sunk on to the bed as Mr. Granger closed the door, but soon after he heard a soft knock.  
  
"Yes?" Harry asked, and Hermione creaked the door open and limped over to the bed.  
  
"Is it feeling better?" He asked, putting a pillow by her to stick her leg on.  
  
"Oh yes, much better" she responded, but still propped her foot up. "So, how have you really been?"  
  
"FFin," harry started, but knew it was no good. "I can't stand it. He's gone. He's gone and its my fault, Voldemort's back, he's after me and he'll go threw anyone to get me. And I really don't think that I'm going to have anyone I care about left, once he's done, because everyone is set on protecting me. What's the point of me living, if he's just going to kill everybody else?"  
  
"Harry," Hermione said softly. "Have you given any thought to the prediction? You have to be the one to end him. I know that's scary. You're only 15! But you're a great wizard Harry, and you can do it. You have powers that Voldemort doesn't. And don't worry about everybody protecting you. Have some faith in them."  
  
But Harry intruded, "I do have faith in you, uh them. But Sirrius was one of the greatest wizards I know, and he died! Hermione, he died!" He said, shaking. He was crying. Hermione hadn't the slightest idea of what to do. She knew he was ashamed of it, as he was trying to wipe his tears away. So, she threw her arms around him and started crying herself.  
  
"It's okay, Harry. It's okay."  
  
The door cracked open and a resonating "WHAT THE HECK?" was heard as Mr. Granger pulled Harry off of the bed. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"  
  
"HE WAS CRYING DAD!" Hermione yelled at him.  
  
Harry sunk onto the floor, as Mr. Granger looked curiously at him. "Why?"  
  
"His godfather died!" She said indignantly.  
  
"Oh," Said Mr. Granger, very embarrassed. "Carry on, then." he said shortly and shut the door.  
  
"Hermione, I'm scared." Harry said, looking stonily at her from the floor.  
  
She slumped down next to him, wrapped an arm around his shoulder and reassured him "It'll be all right."

A/N Please R&R


	2. Padding, triple word score

"Harry, Hermione, Time for Dinner." Mrs. Granger called up the stairs.  
  
Harry began wiping his eyes impatiently with his sleeve. "All right. I'm all right. Let's go."

Hermione began toward the door but Harry grabbed her Hand.  
  
"Hey Mio, thanks."  
  
After dinner Hermione offered to show Harry around her very dull neighborhood.  
  
"And this is where the Cobin's live. I sit their daughter Cora sometimes. She reminds me a lot of Lavender. She insists that she can predict the future." Hermione told him with a laugh.  
  
"Has she predicted anything correctly?" Harry asked.  
  
"Oh yes, the first time I watched her she said I would soon be disappointed, and I only got 2 pounds for watching her all day!"  
  
The sun had started setting when Harry voiced the real problem again.  
  
"I've gotten quite of few letters from Lupin, since the end of school. I think he's trying to be what, my third dad. But, I can't let him be that. It hasn't served well for my dad, or Sirrius. I have to face Voldemort on my own. If Lupin is trying to save me from him..."  
  
"You can't assume that his wanting to protect you is going to leave him dead. And you can't keep blaming yourself for everyone who has died. Let Lupin in, he can help you."  
  
They walked up to the porch where Mr. Granger was sitting.  
  
"What are you doing dad?" asked Hermione cheerfully as her father still stared at Harry.  
  
"Polishing my gun." he said simply.  
  
Hermione gawked at him. "But we don't own a gun."  
  
"We do now."  
  
Hermione grabbed Harry's arm and dragged him inside.  
  
"No offense Mio, but what's up with your dad?"  
  
"He's just a little protective. I guess he thinks we could be dating."  
  
They spent the rest of the evening playing scrabble with Mrs. Granger, while her husband wrote down every word Harry played.  
  
"What does he mean by padding?" he asked Mrs. Granger before bed.  
  
"Honestly Drew, You use padding in sports!"

A/N: Yes, just for the record, Mr. Granger isn't based on anyone from my life. uh hmm, yes, no one. His characteristics aren't similar to my fathers, um, at all. Yes. Not in the slightest.....


	3. Who is your friend?

Hermione awoke slowly the next morning and groaned as she saw the clock read 10:24. She rolled out of bed, threw on her robe and went down to the kitchen. Her mother was cleaning off three plates from the table.

"Where's Harry?" Hermione asked her mother.

"Oh. You're up. Your father took him out this morning for some golf."

She spat out the sip of orange juice she had taken from the carton. "Tell me your joking!" she practically screamed.

"Well no, darling. He said he wanted some bonding time with your new boyfriend."

"WE ARE NOT DATING!" she shrieked, but her mother just nodded knowledgeably.

"Honestly, I thought you were smarter than that Hermione."

"ARGH!" She screamed and went upstairs to get ready.

As soon as the door came open Hermione threw on a shirt and dashed downstairs. She quickly took inventory to make sure Harry had all of his body parts.

"Oh. Hi Hermione." he said quite normally, but perhaps a little shaken.

"Hi Harry, dad. I had hoped you would tell me if you were going to steal my friend for the morning." Hermione said very coolly.

"Oh, well I am sorry dear. Perhaps we can have a little chat about it."

He escorted her out on to the porch before beginning "Well, he seems like an all right kid. I don't think he's into drugs, but his eyes were a little red. But he says he wants to be an Auror when he grows up. What is this? And more importantly, how much does it make?"

"DAD! What are you saying? His eyes were red because I'm sure he cried last night, he just lost the only father figure he has ever known. And an Auror is kind of like a police officer for wizards, but they handle evil sorcerers. I'm not sure, but I would assume it would rake in a good bit of gold, but DAD! I have no intentions of marrying Harry. We aren't even dating!"

He just smirked at her. "Sure. But listen Hermione, you're not ready to be dating. Maybe in a decade you'll be prepared, but you really should consider waiting until your married."

"To DATE! How am I supposed to find my husband?"

"So your looking!?" he accused.

"No! Dad! Listen to me. Harry & I are JUST friends. JUST friends." And she stormed off the porch.

"Are you okay, Harry?" she asked.

"Yeah. Sure. But did you know your dad has a lie detector?"

She rolled her eyes. "Do you want to grab lunch? There's an okay place a couple blocks away."

The pair walked down the street as many of Hermione's neighbors stuck their head out the door to ask "Ms. Granger. Who is your friend?"

"Honestly." Hermione said after they have seated themselves. "Why is everyone convinced we're dating?"

"Oh. Is that what they mean?" said Harry with a laugh.

"Really though," said Hermione now chortling too. "A girl & a guy can't be friends.

"Wait. Hermione, are you saying your a girl? Blimey I think your right! hahaha." Harry mused.

"Ron is a bit of a prat."

"Have you written Ron?" Harry asked suddenly.

"Oh. No. I didn't really think about it. Think we should?"

"Yeah. I reckon."

So the two started to compose on a napkin.

Ron,

How are you doing? The summer is going quite well. Just wanted to inform you that Harry is here, if you need to talk to him. Hope we see you soon.

Hermione

As soon as they got back to the house they sent the letter with Hedwig.

"So, did you & my dad actually go golfing?"

"Yeah. We only played a few holes though. I'm not very good."

"But dad said you got 30 more points than he did." said Hermione confused.

"Your not big on golf, are you Mio?"

By the next morning, Hermione had learned her lesson. Her alarm went off at 8, and she rose quickly. It wasn't until 9 when Harry stumbled into the kitchen.

"Morning Mio." he said warmly.

"Good morning Harry."

"Ya know, I had the strangest dream."

Hermione dropped the teapot. She knew that Harry frequently had dreams that were clips of what Voldemort wanted him to see.

"No. No. Not like that. I think Dumbledore has that squared away. But you & I were flying around Hogwarts. But then your broom started bucking, so you jumped on to mine, and we started to fall. But then we landed softly in a vat of Jello."

"That is bizzar-" she started saying but was interrupted by a knock on the door. She rose and shut Harry in the room behind her. All he could here was "Ron!" before his other best friend's voice intruded.

"Think its funny, do you? To leave me out of things? Whenever Harry comes to the Burrow, I invite you too. You'd think that you'd have the same consideration for me!"

"Ron! Listen to me. The only reason I didn't invite you is because Harry needs sympathy and comfort right now."

"And I can't offer sympathy and comfort?" he raged.

It wasn't until then that Harry realized how very glad he was that Ron hadn't been there the past few days. He would of felt much more foolish crying in front of him. But at that time Mr. Granger came down from the stairwell and opened the door to the Entrance.

"Mio. What's going on?"

"Oh, dad. This is another friend of mine. Ron Weasley. He's just stopping by."

"Okay." he said, and turned around, but Harry heard him quite clearly mutter as he walked back upstairs, "Doesn't she have any female friends?"

A/n: Thanks for reading!


	4. We only have ONE guest bedroom

Hermione & Ron still screaming at each other as Harry grudgingly got up from the table and went to join them.

"Harry!" Ron began at him.

"Wait Ron. Just listen to me for a second." and to Harry's great surprise, they both stopped talking. "I've been a little upset this summer, and I know you have been too. You both knew Sirius almost as well as I did. But Ron, it was like having my father die again. You and Hermione are my best friends, but it just so happens that girls are naturally better at dealing with emotions." Ron tried to interject but Harry stifled him. "You know they are. And I've been really upset and so Hermione invited me over here to get me away from the Dursleys who weren't being very sympathetic. And since I've been here WHICH has only been a few days, I promise, I've gotten over a lot of stuff. Things which would have been harder to deal with if I would have been trying to be big and strong in front of you."

"Harry." said Ron. "You don't have to be big and strong in front of me. Remember last year when my dad almost died? I didn't try to be big about it, you could tell that I was terrified. But, I guess I can understand how Mio can be a bit better about these sort of things."

"So, are you still mad?" asked Hermione, timidly though Harry was quite sure that she was prepared to go another round.

"I guess not." he said, and looked around at them, smiling.

"I'll go ask Mum & Dad if you can stay. That is, if your fine with it Harry?"

"Yeah. Cool. What's say we have breakfast?" suggested Harry.

So Ron & Harry went into the kitchen to eat, as Hermione cleared it over with her parents.

"Where is he going to stay?" asked Mr. Granger. "We only have one guest bedroom."

"I'm sure he'll be fine with the couch. Or he could sleep on the floor in"

"Don't even say it!"

"HARRY's room, dad. Honestly."

The trio entertained themselves the rest of the day by browsing the "Weasley Wizard Wheeze's catalog" and several games of exploding snap as the Hermione's parents watched in amusement. Around 11, Mrs. Granger thought it a good idea for everyone to get some rest, so Ron retired to the couch, and Harry & Hermione "TO YOUR RESPECTIVE ROOMS" as Mr. Granger had added.

Once again Hermione's alarm went off and she went downstairs quietly. To her surprise Harry was already sitting at the table.

"You're up very early." she said to him.

"Couldn't sleep well. But so are you."

"I didn't want my dad taking you or Ron on another trip."

They laughed, but Harry was staring at the table.

"What is it?" asked Hermione.

"Oh. Nothing. I guess I feel sort of guilty for being here all this time without Ron. But on the other hand, I am glad he wasn't here in the beginning."

"I know what you mean. But I think he's okay with it, now."

Then Harry looked up at her very oddly. "Do you want to go for a walk?"

"Sure."

Very quietly, they tiptoed out the front door. Then started off in a different direction than they had previously traveled.

"I've had a really good time here, Mio. And I really want to thank you again. It meant a lot to have someone to talk everything over with."

She replied with the cliched "What are friends for?"

"I really miss him."

"I know. But it's going to be All right, Harry. It really is."

"I know." and with that, he reached down and grabbed his best friend of five years hand.

She had thought about it. What it would be like if Harry made some sort of move to suggest that he felt the same way as she. In her dreams she would always make some hugely romantic gesture, or ask him a sappy question about how long he'd known. But just now, all she did was smile at him. That is, until her dad came running in between them, breaking their handhold.

The End!

A/N: Thanks very much to everyone who reviewed! And I'm sorry TeenTypist that it probably didn't end as you would have liked (Ron/Mio shipper as you are.) but that felt right to me, and what can I say? I'm a sucker for a happy ending.


End file.
